Stage 3 colon cancer: What's your experience?

I am so happy that you got good news about your tumor! I hope I am as lucky. My first scan is March 6th and results on the 8th. I ended my treatments in December and have been anxiously waiting for the scan. My tumor was very large, but I felt relief after the first week of treatment. I could finally sit without pain. So I’m hopeful.

I was diagnosed with stage 3 anorectal cancer. I initially thought I had a gastro issue and saw a gastroenterologist. He suspected cancer and I had a colonoscopy done, where it was confirmed. They decided to treat me with chemotherapy followed by radiation. They inserted a port in my chest and I have had 8 chemo sessions now. I am not sure exactly what chemo they used except that it supposedly targets fast growing cells. I was on pain killers (ibuprofin) for a number of months, which I was not too happy about as it can attack the stomach lining. Just the same, it was the only thing that seemed to help, but after my 2nd chemo session I have not used pain killers.

I also could not sit due to pain so had to lie on a couch or stand to eat. I have not experienced a loss in appetite, although I did lose about 15 lb initially. I am now able to sit at a table so that makes it much easier to socialize which I think is important to keep a semblance of normality.

Chemo was not as bad as I expected, and I have managed my 8 sessions (every 2 weeks) plus 2 days with a chemo pump. You do feel absolutely wiped out after the sessions, but I have not experienced nausea or hair loss. Only real fatigue for a number of days afterwards. I now move on to radiation so we will see what that brings.

We know what the Oncologist will say and tell you ; have a good discussion with your surgeon first or at least seek a second opinion.
This is just my opinion based on personal experience to date.
Actually, your saying that the surgeon didn't seem too concerned of your stage 3 and was ok with it is troubling.
Best Wishes to you !

I was diagnosed with anal cancer in September of 2022. I thought it was my hemorrhoids acting up. I saw my gastroenterologist. I told them I felt like I was sitting on a golf ball. Even with a cushion, I couldn’t sit comfortably. After weeks of back and forth he finally did a sigmoidoscopy. When I woke up and saw his face, he looked like he saw a ghost. My tumor was that large. Almost the size of a tennis ball. I was referred to a radiologist and oncologist. I had one dose of Mytomicin and Xeloda for 5 days a week for 6 weeks. I had radiation at the same time. I think I did pretty well with the chemo. The hardest part of that was forcing myself to eat something before I took the 5 pills 2X a day. The burns from the radiation is what really affected me the most. The pain was excruciating. We bought a bidet that fit on our toilet and that really helped. My stomach was another story. I suffered from radiation enteritis from the second week of treatment until recently. Now I am left with little control over my sphincter muscle. In 2 weeks I will have a CAT scan to see if the treatment helped. It has been an extremely difficult time waiting for these results. I don’t know what’s ahead of me. I am doing my best to remain positive.

Thanks for the heads up about the pain from radiation. I will have to make sure that I have effective pain killers. I see they describe my radiation as "aggressive radiation" so I am not looking forward to this at all.

My radiation was very aggressive too. I used a lot of Aquaphor on my skin and it helped to a point. The thing that helped most was a bidet. We bought one that fits right on your existing toilet. It has been a godsend and worth every penny. I had severe pain for about 2 weeks. I couldn’t have anything touching my skin. I am all healed now but still have some residual pain where the wounds were the worst. I had radiation enteritis for 2 months after that. It started about 2 weeks into treatment. I’m over that now but have a new issue. Now I’m dealing with fecal incontinence. I am so ready to feel normal again!

My journey started one year ago. I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer at that time. I had surgery and 3 lymph nodes were positive. I had 6 months chemo with folfox. According to my oncologist. Your rate of cure rate with out chemo is 60 percent. With Chemo its 85 percent. I would not risk it without doing chemo. Chemo is not fun but I am happy to say I am done with it. My year anniversary scope was normal. BTW I am also a doctor and this has been the most humbling experience of my life.

Thank you Colleen! I have been tempted to ask, but don't know how to ask or start another thread. What experiences people have had with oncologists and surgeons giving totally differing diagnoses? Does this happen regularly, e.g. NO, if continues to shrink don't see why surgery needed, versus YES, it will still be required. Does it mean that they just aren't communicating, or is it a differing philosophy of sciences. I mean I DO feel they are both very great at their jobs and experiences, but it kinda has driven me crazy. Actually, from the start! (Not first time.) I try to read between the lines and have patience, but wonder if am going nuts with my understanding of what each one said... and am pretty darn practical and non-judmental. Thoughts? Worthy of discussion? And/or????

p.s. regarding Keytruda after the 3rd treatment. I DID get briefly nauseous 2 days later and threw up just a tiny bit. Nothing else except a vague "spaciness" at times. I imagine accumulative effects can do this as time goes on. Will see.